


Detached

by Pollyanna



Category: Highlander: The Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-01-06
Updated: 2004-01-06
Packaged: 2017-10-11 06:45:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/109596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pollyanna/pseuds/Pollyanna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joe Dawson files a report</p>
            </blockquote>





	Detached

**Author's Note:**

> Written for "The End is the Beginning" Lyric Wheel in January 2004. Lyrics provided by Ysanne are at the bottom of the story.
> 
> Disclaimer: The characters and situations of the television program "Highlander" are the creations and property of Rysher: Panzer/Davis and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended. 

Even though it was late, he sat down at his desk and booted up his laptop. Opening the standard report template he considered it for a moment, then began to type. He needed to get down the outline of the events while they were fresh in his memory. He had always had a pretty good memory for details and Watcher training had honed it. His first teacher for Recording had said you had to think of it as Watcher First Aid, even going so far as to use the acronym CPR. Conditions. Participants. Results. Get those down and fill in the blanks later when you've got the opportunity. Record what you see, not what you feel. 

Location, date, time, weather conditions, including amount of cloud cover. The archive program calculated the phase of the moon automatically. Apart from his Immortal, those present included Tessa Noel, Richie Ryan, and the unknown shooter, otherwise the street had been deserted with no witnesses. He clicked down to the Comments section and noted that Ryan had gone through his First Death and was now revealed as an Immortal. 

Back to the main body of the report, the events were simple to record. Not even he had seen the killer approach since he had been watching the house waiting for MacLeod to appear. He had not been close enough to hear the conversation, but it seemed likely from his gestures that the killer had demanded money or valuables, and when nothing was handed over, had fired. Ryan appeared to die immediately, but MacLeod's lover took a little longer. The noise of shots had brought MacLeod from the house. Tabbing down to the Comments again he typed in the address of the house with a query to find out the occupant. Not an Immortal, or if an Immortal a live one since there had been no Quickening. 

Scrolling up he added the conclusion. Ryan revived. Tessa Noel didn't. MacLeod was distressed but retained enough presence of mind to send Ryan from the scene before the emergency services arrived. 

He took a moment to check through the document. That was the bare bones of it, enough to cover the event until he had time to flesh it out. He saved the file to his own hard disk before connecting to the network and sending, then reached for the phone. He dialled a number that he knew by heart, but which didn't appear in any telephone book, not even those of the telephone company. The phone rang five times before it was picked up. 

"Hello. You have reached the answerphone for Marner's Storage Facility. Please ...." 

He interrupted, "This is Joe Dawson looking for some help." 

The voice changed from its rote recitation and said, "Please name your field of interest." 

"Duncan MacLeod. One, five, nine, two." 

A pause, a click on the line as the scrambler was turned on, and the sound of a keyboard, before the voice continued. "What is your request?" 

"I've just sent in a report that needs urgent attention. A new Immortal. At the moment he's with my Immortal so the usual night duty roster is covering him." 

More cheerful clattering from the keyboard. "I've got that printing now. I'll make sure it's handled right away. Anything else you require?" 

"A couple of things, but they can both go through the usual processing. One's in the report. I need to know who lived at a particular address and if there's any known connection to MacLeod. The other is for the travel desk. MacLeod will be flying to Paris in the next couple of days and I'll need a seat on the flight before his. Since it's the weekend, it will be Monday at the earliest before he can arrange everything." 

"Will Ryan be going with him? Just wondering how quickly we need to get him his own Watcher." 

"I think he will. It's for a funeral, you see. Tessa Noel was killed tonight." 

There was silence for a long moment, and then a whispered 'Damn' could be heard from the phone. Dawson was thankful at the recognition, relieved he didn't have to find more words, yet almost broken by the small sign of humanity. 

"Yeah," he said huskily. 

The voice tried to recapture its brisk efficiency. "I'll make sure everything this end is dealt with, and we'll get back to you tomorrow. Try and get some sleep," it finished gently. 

"Thanks. Good night." 

He put the phone down and was alone again. He looked towards the bedroom, but even though he was bone-tired he knew he wouldn't get any rest there. He eyed the whisky for a moment and was tempted to drink a toast to a beautiful lady, but knew it wouldn't stop with one glass. His regard moved on to his guitar on its stand, and he moved over to it. He settled in a chair, before reaching over to pick up the guitar, then began to tighten and loosen the strings, not really tuning it, just tending to it as he stared blindly into the shadows of the room. 

How did Immortals manage? He could barely go near his memories of her, and he didn't have the perfect recall they were cursed with. He had only glimpses from afar. A smile that could light up a room like the sun lights up the sky. A spirit undaunted by facing the challenge of four hundred years of history. A beauty that age might diminish but never vanquish. It had taken death to win that battle. 

He had been prepared to face MacLeod's death. The paradox of an Immortal's life was that death could find them any day. When he had first been given MacLeod, it had been considered a good assignment for a Watcher who wasn't going to be winning sprint races any time soon. A quiet Immortal, set in his ways, off the radar of any head hunters. Regular travel to Paris was just an added perk. Yet he always knew it could change in a moment. The stiffening of a body, the glance around until eyes locked. His own stomach would tighten then. Would this be it? 

When he had considered Tessa Noel, his thoughts were all about her life. How would she handle growing older? Would she regret not being a mother? What would she do if MacLeod was killed? Sometimes he had speculated about what she might do if she and MacLeod split up, but that had just been something to pass the time when he was enduring a particularly boring stakeout. It had been pure theory, since it didn't need a trained observer to see that they would never leave each other. Except she had left. Unprepared, unwilling, perhaps - please, God - unknowing. 

His fingers were picking out chords, weaving them into a pattern. He listened, but it wasn't a tune he recognised. It was something completely new, a lament for Tessa. He looked down at the strings, and a drop of water splashed on the wood of the guitar. 

THE END 

* * *

_  
_
    
    
    _
    
    Everything must change
    by Bernard Ighner
    
    Everything must change 
    nothing stays the same 
    everyone must change 
    no one stays the same 
    
    the young become the old 
    and mysteries do unfold 
    cause that's the way of time 
    nothing and no one goes unchanged 
    
    there are not many things in life 
    you can be sure of 
    except rain comes from the clouds 
    sun lights up the sky 
    and hummingbirds do fly 
    
    winter turns to spring 
    a wounded heart will heal 
    but never much too soon 
    yes 
    everything must change 
    
    the young become the old 
    and mysteries do unfold 
    cause that's the way of time 
    nothing and no one goes unchanged 
    
    there are not many things in life 
    you can be sure of 
    except rain comes from the clouds 
    sun lights up the sky 
    and butterflies do fly 
    
    rain comes from the clouds 
    sun lights up the sky 
    and music 
    and music 
    makes me cry 
    _


End file.
